Salvation Army to end Biddy Basketball after this season

Sweet Lou Dunbar finds himself crushed by a group of Biddy basketball players at the Salvation Army Garvey Sports Center in 1998. Dunbar, who was in Wichita for a Globetrotters performance, gave a free clinic for Biddy players and coaches.
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Sweet Lou Dunbar of the Harlem Globetrotters watches as local Biddy basketball players practice their shooting skills during a free clinic Monday afternoon at the Salvation Army Garvey Sports Center.
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Silver Bullets player Kenny Payne shoots the ball during Saturday's practice. The Silver Bullets are 8-1 in the 5-6-year-old division.
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Jordan Southern (31), of the Wichita Blue East Allstars Biddy basketball team, hangs his head as the clock ticks down on their loss to JPRD West, of West Bank, La., on Wednesday night at the Garvey center.
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Kari Kincaid, left, Jennifer Lekawa, middle, and Liz Thompson battle for the ball during a practice at the Collegiate campus Thursday night. The three girls are members of The Spooks, a 9-10- Biddy team of girls that have been dominating both league and tournament play.
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Teddie Nolen, 10, shoots over teammate Joey Helmer, 10, during their Biddy basketball practice at Garvey Sports Center on Saturday. The two boys play for the Sharks, a team of 9- and 10-year-old players.
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Wichita West's James Arbertha makes a shot against St. Philips, Dallas, in Monday's International 11-12 Biddy basketball tournament.
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Mike Love, left, and A.J. Martin cheer one of their friends playing with Wichita West against St. Philips, Dallas in Monday's International 11-12 Biddy basketball tournament.
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8-year-old Wichita East Biddy basketball players No. 24 Ashley Silmon, left, and No.2 Kali McCulloch, right, along with other team members in back celebrate a shot during the second game of the championship.
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Audrey Meisch, center, with the Wildcats, struggles with Emry Woelk, right, and Shelby Welch, left, with the Stars during a Biddy basketball game.
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Coach Scott Ritchie talks to No.31 Kelli Herbel, one of the Hawks Biddy basketball players during a game against the Panthers. The Hawks lost.
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8-year-old Wichita East player No. 24 Ashley Silmon struggles for the ball with St. Philips All Stars No. 10 Kelli Willingham in the first game of the championship game for Biddy basketball.
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Andrew Hill of the Wichita East Biddy All-Stars is closely guarded by Marce Warren of Glen Park, Ind. Wichita came from behind to defeat Glen Park late in the second half.
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One of the Panthers players blocks No. 31 Kelli Herbel of the Hawks during a Biddy game. The Panthers won.
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Ken Murray, right, head coach of the Panthers listens along with Stephany Almonte, left, and the rest of the Panthers team to the assistant coach after a win over the Hawks in Biddy basketball.
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Junior Comets Christina Sexton (34) and Chelsea Ricke (center) try to get the ball away from Gabrielle Butts of the Stars during a 5- and 6-year-old Biddy basketball game at the Garvey Sports Center Tuesday night.
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Pat Walden, coach of the Magic, a girls 7- and 8-year-old Biddy basketball team, talks to the team during a timeout at a recent game.
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Danielle Grogan, front, fights off two Stars players, left, Temdria Nolen and Kacee Jones, during a Biddy basketball game between the Wildcats and the Stars.
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Left to right, Adrian Norris, Spencer Alefs, Shyland Tindall, Chris Legecka, Ty Kirk and Carlin Whitten are part of the Wichita East basketball team competing in the World Biddy Basketball Tournament. They are watching a practice tape of themselves after a practice.
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No. 20 Ashtin Nix, (blue) of the Grizzlies fights for the ball with No. 2 Kelli Hamman, front, and No. 10 Kala Cox, back, with the Lady Jr. Trojans during a game of Biddy basketball. The Grizzlies won 19-3.
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Coach Scott Ritchie of the Hawks goes over a play with the girls on his team during a game of Biddy basketball.
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No. 2 Kelli Hamman with the Lady Jr. Trojans tries to steal the ball from No.10 Ashtin Nix during a Biddy basketball game. The Grizzlies won 19-3.
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Liz Thompson, 13, works on her game in her driveway in East Wichita on Tuesday despite the cold weather. Thompson says her older brother, James, 14, a freshman on the East High School basketball team was her basketball influence and the two have spent many hours playing on the goal. She started playing organized ball in the second grade, playing for an all-boys team at the YMCA, but she says the boys never passed her the ball so the next season she joined Biddy basketball to play on a girls team. She has played for the Spooks since she was in the third grade, winning the Miss Iddy Biddy player of the year in her first year, and Miss Middy Biddy her third year of competition. The Spooks have traveled to Missouri, Florida and Louisiana for tournaments as well as playing many local teams. Besides her brother, Liz's basketball idol is Lynette Woodard, and her dream is play for KU. She is the daughter of Mark and Nell Thompson.
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A mural shows Jesus playing basketball at the Garvey Sports Center in Wichita.
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Kansas Komets team members Trenton Gorges, Derek Mobley, Danny Kihle, Cory Reichenberger and T.J. Glissman sit on the bench waiting their turn to play during their Biddy basketball game at the Garvey Sports Center.
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Pat Walden, center, gets a cheer from his team, the Magic, during a Biddy basketball game. He's the coach of the team.
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Kari Kincaid, left, tries to block teammate Valerie Siemens during a practice Thursday night. The two girls are members of the Spooks, a 9-10 Biddy basketball girls team that have been dominating opponents all season.
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Chris Barnett, 13, has a prosthesis on his left leg after it was amputated because of cancer. He plays Biddy basketball for a team at the Garvey center.
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Kaley Brewer, left, of the Runnin' Rebels, tries to steal the ball from Emily Reavey of the Dragons Tuesday night during their 10-year-old Biddy basketball game.
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Pat Walden, coach of the Magic, a 7- and 8-year-old girls Biddy basketball team, talks and laughs with No. 12 Nicole Walden, one of the players.
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No. 22 Bret Lentz of the Timberwolves drives by one of the Blue Devils players during a game of Biddy basketball. The Timberwolves lost 20-32.
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8-year-old Wichita East players No. 5 Jackie Craft, left, and No. 15 Daniela Almonte, right, try to block St. Philips All-Stars player No. 10 Kelli Willingham during the second game of the championship of Biddy basketball.
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No. 21 Casey Schweninger, left, and No. 3 Drew Maly with the Blue Devils attempt to block a shot by No. 22 Bret Lentz with the Timberwolves. The Timberwolves lost 20-32 in a Biddy basketball game.
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Parents pack the bleachers to cheer on their youngsters Tuesday night at the Garvey Sports Center. More than 2,000 kids, ages 5-14, are participating in the Biddy basketball program this year.
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Tammy Snow, head coach for the Wichita Spooks 11-12-year-old Allstars, makes the team run laps in preparation for the International Girls Biddy Basketball Championship Tournament.
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Trent Watts (33) guards teammate Josh Reeves (32) during a practice. They are getting ready for a tournament.
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Mark Wells goes up for a layup while playing around with his nephews after a Biddy basketball game.
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No. 1 of the Jayhawks, and No. 10 of the ThunderKings, battle for a rebound in Biddy basketball action Saturday night at Wallingford Gym.
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Mark Wells holds one of his nine nephews Kyler Steadman on his shoulders during a Biddy basketball game.
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John Alefs and Steve Fitch have known each other since the seventh grade and are now coaching Biddy basketball.
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Mark Wells watches one of his nephews play a Biddy basketball game; he tries to go to most of the games.
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Eledria Franklin, middle, can't bear to watch any longer as her team, the 7-8 year-old Wichita West All-Stars, are beaten by the Wichita East All-Stars Wednesday in the finals of the Girls Biddy Basketball Tournament.
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Proud parents and family members take pictures of the victorious 7-8-year-old Wichita East All-Stars after the finals of the girls Biddy basketball tournament Wednesday.
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Ashton Martin, left, of the Wichita East team shoots over Latara Claudet for Kenner, La. during the 10-year-old girls championship game of the Biddy basketball tournament.
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Clarence Smith is the coach of the New Orleans Jazz Biddy basketball team and helped make it possible for the kids to play together again. The team did not have a chance to play or practice together before the start of the tournament.
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JoAnna McFarland, East, 50, looks for a shot while being guarded by Jaicarrea Joseph for Kenner, La. during the 10-year-old girls championship game of the Biddy basketball tournament.
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Kelsey Carnejo of the Wichita West Biddy team, dribbles toward the basket while being pursued by a Thibodaux, La., player during a first-round matchup in the 8-year-old division. Wichita West pulled out a win after being down by 6 points in the fourth quarter.
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Chris Barnett, 13, sets up for the shot during his Biddy basketball game Saturday the the Salvation Army Garvey center on South Glendale. Barnett plays with a prosthesis to replace a leg lost to cancer three years ago.
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Kelsey Carnejo of the Wichita West Biddy team, dribbles toward the basket while being pursued by Thibodaux, La., player Reagan Lirette during a first-round matchup in the 8-year-old division. Wichita West pulled out a win after being down by 6 points in the fourth quarter.
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Audrey Love of Wichita reacts in disbelief at the play of her son on the left court, but soon turned her attention to one of her daughters playing on the right court during Biddy basketball action Tuesday night. Love sits between the two courts so she can watch all of her kids at once.
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Intensity shows on the faces of Wichita West Biddy players Shalai Usher, left, and Samantha Bedore as they watch their teammates score against Thibodaux, La., in a first-round game in the 8-year-old division. Wichita West pulled out a win after being down by 6 points in the fourth quarter.
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At one time in his life, Antoine Carr actually was short. That's when he was 6 years old, playing Biddy basketball in Wichita.

What Carr remembers most about Biddy basketball is that the baskets were lowered from their usual 10-foot height so kids like him could learn how to shoot with the proper form.

They didn't have to heave it at the hoop the way Carr sees young kids do it these days in Texas, where he lives and where youth basketball plays on 10-foot hoops.

"I think it helped my game a great deal," said Carr, who grew into a 6-foot-9 All-American at Wichita State University and played 16 seasons in the NBA.

On Friday, the Salvation Army announced that it was dropping the Biddy program, which for more than 50 years had helped thousands of boys and girls ages 5-12 develop as basketball players and human beings.

The economic downturn has forced it to focus on its core services, the Army said.

Said Carr: "I'm really surprised they would let Biddy go, considering all the guys I know that this program helped."

Biddy ball got kids up to speed on basketball fundamentals, taught them lessons about teamwork and life, and kept kids like him out of trouble, Carr said.

"It kept me out of the gang areas and those type of things,'' he said. "It kept me focused on something that was positive instead of pushing me in the wrong direction."

Heartbroken

East High boys basketball coach Ron Allen, who was inducted into the Biddy Hall of Fame as a player last Saturday, said he was heartbroken by the news.

"There's nothing greater than watching a kid experience competition at a young age and deal with the ups and downs of it and watch them develop and play the game for fun," he said.

"It's a sad day for us in basketball around here.

"There's got to be some other organization to pick up where Biddy's left off and keep the basketball tradition in this community solid and rich."

Costly program

The Salvation Army expected an emotional reaction to the move.

"It's been extremely difficult for us to make this decision, but we've been looking at this for a year," said Major Douglas Rowland, city commander for the Salvation Army. "This has not been a quick decision at all."

Rowland said the number of teams in the program had dwindled from 250 to 60 and continues to shrink.

"While that still sounds like a lot of kids, it doesn't sustain the program as it is," he said.

Rowland declined to say how much money the Salvation Army spent on the Biddy program but said it "was a significant portion of our budget, which caused us to take a look at it."

Rowland said the Army no longer can afford to duplicate services provided by other youth basketball programs in the community.

Demands are rising for the organizations core services, particularly in its emergency social services, its youth residential and foster care programs, and its camps and churches.

"Sometimes pruning needs to take place so the rest of the bush can grow," Rowland said.

"I'm sure they have their reasons, and I'm sure their reasons are good," said long-time Biddy Hall of Fame coach and national director Tom Staats, "but I'm just really surprised because there are so many kids that need to be ministered to and looked after in our community."

Staats coached Biddy teams for about 30 years, and guided an all-star 12-year-old team to a world championship in 1984. He coached players like Marcus Ziegler, DeAngelo Evans, Val Barnes, Steve Woodberry and Darren Dreifort.

"It's just been a pleasure to be associated with it. It really, really saddens me to hear they're no longer going to be in existence," he said.

Gerald Leonard, Biddy director from 1991 to 2008, also was sad.

"I'm sad for all the kids that won't have the opportunity to play Biddy basketball, and sad for the city that it will lose a program that brought the city money," he said.

The program hosted the world tournament for 12 years while he was director, Leonard said.

Origin and growth

The Biddy program started at four sites around the city. The Garvey family donated its current facility near Harry and Oliver in 1995, which houses nine basketball courts.

"The most rewarding thing was to see the joy in the eyes of those little players when they had an accomplishment like scoring and making a good pass," Leonard said.

Tom Staats' brother, Ray, regional director from 1996 to 2008, who also coached Biddy teams with players like Maurice Evans and Darrin Williams, said, "You get to be a father figure to a lot of them. Not all of them come from broken homes, but a lot of them came from troubled lives and needed some guidance in their lives. That's what made coaching so fun and rewarding."

Ray Staats said he was disappointed the program was dropped.

"A lot of kids went through the program with the Salvation Army as the guiding light in their lives," he said. "They learned a lot of Christian values, and how we are all working together to achieve a common goal, and that's what life is all about — to achieve a common goal and learn how to work out our differences."